


Friendliness Is Not A Competition, Lunchbox

by patrickstumpismydad



Series: Neighbor Competition [1]
Category: Fall Out Boy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Fluff, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-27
Updated: 2016-02-27
Packaged: 2018-05-23 11:14:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6114766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/patrickstumpismydad/pseuds/patrickstumpismydad
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>We’ve bought a new house. And our new next door neighbours (two delightful gentlemen) will not stop being nice. </p><p>An AU based on a text post from Tumblr.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Friendliness Is Not A Competition, Lunchbox

Patrick stared at the bouquet of sweet peas in a vase on his kitchen table. Those hadn’t been there when he’d left for the grocery store. “Pete? Where’d these come from?” He stuck his head into his husband’s office, assuming that’s where he’d be but was met with silence. They’d just moved into their new house in a new suburban neighborhood and the only rooms they’d bothered to unpack so far were their bedroom, the office, and bits of the kitchen so there weren’t a lot of places Pete could be hiding. Patrick wandered around until he finally caught of glimpse of Pete bent over a flower bed outside.

“What are you up to?” Pete grinned up at Patrick, motioning to the flowers he was planting. “The guys next door let me borrow a bunch of their gardening tools so we could start sprucing this place up a little. They even brought us some flowers for the table and invited us over tomorrow night so we can meet the rest of the neighbors.”

“Seriously? Why are they being so nice,” Patrick asked, always more cynical than his partner.

Pete’s eyes crinkled as he stood up and wrapped an arm around Patrick’s waist fondly. “Come on Tricky, don’t be like that. That’s what people do in these kinds of neighborhoods. They’re friendly.”

Patrick eyed him warily but shrugged. Pete would know more about living in a suburb than him. The older man had grown up in a high end neighborhood much like the one they’d just moved into. “What kind of get together is it supposed to be tomorrow? Like what am I going to have to wear? They don’t have a pool right?”

“No Lunchbox, you won’t have to break out your speedo. I’m pretty sure it’s just a barbeque but you can ask Dallon when he comes over tomorrow morning. I offered him breakfast because he said he’d come over and help me trim those hedges around the front door.”

“You’re going to trim hedges,” Patrick asked suspiciously.

“Well, I’m going to hold the ladder,” Pete grinned, giving Patrick a little peck on the cheek before returning inside.

 

The next morning, Patrick woke up alone. He could smell coffee and hear conversation floating up from the kitchen. He assumed the unfamiliar voice was Dallon’s and decided he should probably be social lest the neighbors think he was rude and unfriendly.

“Morning Rick, this is Dallon. Dallon, this is my husband Patrick,” Pete grinned, gesturing between the two. The first thing Patrick noticed was how tall the other man was. He was practically two of Patrick stacked on top of each other.

“Nice to meet you,” Patrick smiled shyly. “Thank you for all the help, Pete told me about the tools and the flowers and everything. That’s really nice of you.”

“Of course,” Dallon smiled brightly. “We wanted to give you a proper welcome to the neighborhood. My boyfriend, Brendon, he’s the one who sent the flowers. He wanted to meet you too but it’ll have to wait until later because he’s busy with work.”

They made polite conversation over coffee until Dallon and Pete ventured outside to tackle the hedges that the old owners had let get horrendously overgrown.

 

As Patrick cleaned up the breakfast dishes, he chewed his bottom lip anxiously. How were they supposed to compete in this niceness armsrace? They were already ridiculously far behind and he would not have his posh new neighbors thinking they were anything but the friendliest of people.

He quickly set to work making one of his special lemon drizzle cakes. This recipe had won over teachers who hated him, Pete’s particularly homophobic aunt, and even the odd music critic who left him bad reviews online.

“Yum, that smells amazing Tricky, my favorite,” Pete grinned, sliding up behind Patrick as he pulled the cake from the oven. “What’s the occasion?”

“This is not for you so don’t even think about it. It’s for the neighbors. I had to do something! They’re beating us.”

“Beating us?” Pete’s eyebrows rose in confusion. “Trickster, friendliness is not a competition.”

Patrick rolled his eyes and continued getting the cake ready until it was on a plate and ready to be taken next door.

“Tricky, baby, please listen to me,” Pete whined. “It’s not a contest to see who can be the nicest. Just let me eat the cake.” Patrick ignored him, sliding on his shoes and taking the short walk next door to their neighbors’.

 

He rang the doorbell and waited nervously until he heard movement and a skinny man with a bright smile and a large forehead answered the door.

“Uh, hi,” Patrick smiled awkwardly. “You must be Brendon? I’m Patrick, from next door? I brought you this,” he motioned to the cake in his hands, “To say thanks for being so welcoming to us.”

Brendon’s smile grew as he took in the smell of the cake. “Nice to meet you Patrick! Dallon,” he called, tugging on Patrick’s sleeve so he’d follow him inside. “Look! Patrick made us cake! Come in, come in, have a slice and some coffee!”

Before Patrick could protest he was being hauled into their kitchen and having his ear talked off as Brendon chattered away about anything and everything he could think of. He was really starting to like them, which made him even angrier. How would he ever beat them now?

 

“How’d it go,” Pete asked as Patrick returned an hour later.

“Horrible! They gave me a whole tour of their stupid house and even let me hold their puppy!”

“Mm, they really are terrible neighbors, huh Lunchbox,” Pete grinned sarcastically.

“Shut the fuck up, they even sent a slice of cake home for you,” he groaned, handing the plate to his husband.

“Best. Neighbors. Ever.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is technically a stand alone one shot but if anyone is interested in more fics from this universe let me know and I'd be happy to write more.


End file.
